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Thursday’s Jive

Good afternoon, it’sThursday September 13th and this is the Jive at Five – WESU’s Daily community calendar and rundown of night time programming here on 88.1 FM WESU Middletown, your station for NPR, Pacifica, independent and local public affairs by day and the best in free-form community programming weeknights and weekends.I’m J-Cherry producer and host of VOICE of the CITY now airing in our new timeslot, Tuesday from 8-9PM, Showcasing live and local music, arts, and culture.Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for tuning in!! Today kicks off the new fall schedule!Tonight at 7:30 p.m., WESU, brings a lecture by the Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd, Anthony Fantano, host of The Needle Drop, to Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts.This evening, the Wallingford Public Library welcomes acclaimed actor and audio book narrator George Guidall at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room. Guidall has recorded over 900 unabridged novels, including classics like Crime and Punishment, Frankenstein, The Iliad, Don Quixote, and most recently, Les Miserables, along with many popular best sellers. Guidall will speak about his career and his experience in the world of narration

All through September, drawings, paintings and sculpture by inmates of Connecticut prisons will be displayed at Russell Library in Middletown. The exhibit is sponsored by Community Partners in Action, which operates on the belief that the arts are an important tool for inmates to develop life skills while also providing the general public a window into an often-unseen part of our community. For more information, please call 860-347-2528.

On Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., the Center for the Arts presents the Connecticut premier of the interactive piece “Zoom,” harnessing the lively democratized energy of social networking and shattering the wall between the audience and performers. The dance company integrates audience cell-phone photos and texts into real-time video collages projected into the theater for an engaging and surprising evening of dance. Part of the Breaking Ground Dance Series presented by the Wesleyan Dance Department and the Center for the Arts. Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Also, running through December, the Wesleyan Center for the Arts presents “Performance Now,” explaining how performance came to be essential to the latest developments in contemporary art and culture. For more information, you can contact the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Down at Café Nine in New Haven tonight, it’s the Pete Anderson Band, led by the multi-Platinum, Grammy Award-winning producer/guitarist Pete Anderson, most widely known as the musical partner to Dwight Yoakam. Pete’s got an all-new blues band, featuring two of the best musicians he has worked with over the years.Friday, Shellye Valauskas and Dean Falcone come to Café Nine, followed by the Manic Productions presentation of the Modern Merchant Tour kick off , w/ Ports of Spain and Jesse Stanford (of Heirlooms). Modern Merchant is a four-piece psychedelic dream-rock band, half-based out of New Haven and half out of Brooklyn.Saturday, Café Nine’s Afternoon Jazz Jam is hosted by Tony Dioguardi and Friends, followed by Manic Productions Presents: Perhaps; w/ Wess Meets West and Breakthrough Frequencies, an Indie/post rock showcase. Sunday, it’s the Sunday-After-Supper Jam, with host Kevin Saint James and the Legendary Cafe Nine All-Stars. More information at cafenine.com

Over at Toad’s Place tonight is Circa Survive, Touche Amore, Balance and Composure and O’Brother.Friday brings the Battle of the DJs and the EDM Dance Party to Toad’s. More information can be found online at toadsplace.com.

Up in Hartford, at Blackeyed Sally’s,On Friday, it’s Tas Cru, described as playing with “vivacity and sheer joy.”Saturday at Sally’s brings Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez to the stage. Christine is a longtime vocalist with the Saturday Night Live band and her latest CD, The Deep End, was honored on five national Top Ten lists. More information at blackeyedsallys.com

Back in Middletown, the Russell Knitters meet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Russell Library on Saturdays. The Russell Knitters are an enthusiastic group of knitters who are willing to share ideas and expertise. No registration is required. Bring your knitting projects! www.russelllibrary.org

Food Not Bombs shares food beginning about 1 pm Sundays in front of The Buttonwood Tree. Anyone is welcome. Consider yourself invited to help prepare vegetarian food at the First Church on 190 Court Street at 11:30 am. Information about all Buttonwood events can be found on their website at buttonwood.org.For the latest in Middletown arts and entertainment anytime you’re not hearing it on our Jive, go to arts2GO.org – the City’s website for what’s going on in Middletown.

Now here’s a quick rundown of cinema off the beaten path here in central CT this weekend:

Through tomorrow, Real Art Ways in Hartford is showing “Sleepwalk With Me,” the story of a burgeoning stand-up comedian struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore.

Also playing through tomorrow is Elena, winner of a special jury prize at Canne, the film is described as a subtly stylish exploration of crime, punishment and human nature.

Tickets, info and times can be found online at realartways.org.

Starting Friday at Real Art Ways and running through next Thursday, it’s “You’ve Been Trumped”. In this David and Goliath story for the 21st century, a group of proud Scottish homeowners take on celebrity tycoon Donald Trump. At stake is one of Britain’s very last stretches of wilderness.

Saturday at Real Art Ways, the Improvisations concert series features improvised music by Mark Dresser on contrabass violin, Stephen Haynes on cornet and Joe Morris on guitar. The aim of this artist-curated series is to create a listening environment that will allow the audience intimate and deep contact with the music and those who make it. Come early and stay late, listen to and speak with the performing artists.

Tonight at Cinestudio, the Trinity College cinema, begins screenings of Savages, directed by Oliver Stone. Blissed-out marijuana growers in Southern California meet their brutally professional Mexican drug dealers. Described as “Oliver Stone’s strongest work in years….a stylish, violent, hallucinatory thriller with both a mean streak and a devilish sense of humor.” The film runs through Saturday.

Sunday through next Tuesday begins a run of the film Damsels in Distress, written and directed by Whit Stillman, it’s about well-spoken co-eds who are bored to distraction by their classmates and so go on a mission to improve the music, clothes, dance – and especially the fraternity men – on campus. Tickets and times can be found at cinestudio.org.

Now let’s take a look at tonight’s programming on WESU-FM. Some of these are brand new, so you’ll especially want to check them out!

Thursday, 5:05-6pmHomegrown with Rob DeRosaThe best crop of Connecticut-connected music presented for a global audience.

Thursday, 6-6:30pmFree Speech Radio News From The Pacifica NetworkYour daily dose of alternative international news and reporting from the Pacifica Network.

Thursday, 8-9:30pmEvening Jazz with Bill DenertWhere hearing is the best experience. A broad range of swing, be-bop, and avant garde as well as a sprinkling of new releases.

Thursday, 9:30-10:30pmBridging the Gap with Jesse BrentExploring how music has changed forms through the years, and the links that tie together seemingly disparate genres such as blues and rap, or funk and Krautrock.

Thursday, 10:30-11:30pm [alternating – 2nd and 4th weeks]Bach Party with Canyon GirlBach Party will feature a unique theme each week showcasing work from a grand pool of classical composers and compositions. Tune in, remain composed, and keep it classy.

Thursday, 11:30pm-12:30am [alternating – 2nd and 4th weeks]Songs Without Words with Jacob FederSongs Without Words offers an eclectic assortment of instrumental musics both new and old.

Friday, 12:30-1:30am [alternating – 2nd and 4th weeks]Jack’s Jazz and Jam with DJ JackI will be playing music that features that blends styles, genres, and interesting melodic and harmonic arrangements. I would focus specifically on jazz and jazz influenced music, rock n’ roll, jam bands, bluegrass, funk, and any blending of the above genres.

Friday, 1:30-2:30amRock Fatale with DJ StellaFeaturing the first ladies of rock, from The Marvelettes to Metric.

Friday, 2:30-3:30amSunspot LoopsA sporadic exploration of what exists in music at the moment.

Friday, 3:30-4amCorporate Radio Talk Show Live Superstar 9000 with \.comThe talk show that has the FCC raving! We never cease to disappoint.